MARGAO: The Margao returning officer has rejected the objections to the candidatures of Arthur D’Silva, Damodar Shirodkar and Avinash Shirodkar. Meanwhile, the nominations of two candidates from Ward 3 have been rejected as they had not produced OBC certificates.
While filing his objections, Kanekar had accused Avinash of leaving a space in the affidavit blank, which according to the candidature filing rules is not permissible; Damu Shirodkar was accused of misrepresenting facts in the affidavit, while Arthur was accused of omitting facts of his involvement in the Louis Berger case.
Incidentally, Kanekar, Arthur and Damodar are contesting the municipal elections from Ward 22, while Avinash is contesting from Ward 21.
After listening to arguments from all the parties, Returning Officer Surendra Naik rejected the objections and accepted the trio’s candidatures.
Arthur’s lawyer Pritam Moraes contended that, “My client hasn’t received the chargesheet copy and has the liberty to challenge it. All the sections to which the objector refers are not present in the Acts, and hence the objection should be rejected.”
The lawyers of Avinash and Damu also relied on the same facts to get the objections rejected.
Meanwhile, UGF president Ashish Kamat said, “This verdict is from a returning officer who has a shady past. We have every reason to appeal against his decision to higher authorities, and we will certainly do it.”
An objection has also been filed against the candidature of Pratima and Savio Coutinho for holding a campaign rally in Margao with a banner requesting people to elect Savio in his ward. The complaint is yet to be addressed.
